Her One True Love
by DiNozzo and Gibbs addict
Summary: As a new lawyer comes to help Liberty with a case that the client has also bought in Bull to help him with the case and the truth comes out that she doesn't really want to be a lawyer, how will Bull help her? Especially when she is facing life threatening injuries when their client's girlfriend tries to exact revenge on him. And will Sophia and Bull find true love?
1. Chapter 1

**Her One True Love**

 **Chapter 1.**

Sophia had just passed the bar and was a very new lawyer, but for now she was about to embark on her very first case with Liberty as the lead. Not only that their client had also employed trial consultant Dr. Jason Bull. And with being so new to everything she was feeling very nervous about everything that was about to come her way. Even so in a way she was also hoping that the case would show her that she would enjoy being a lawyer, because in her heart she really truly didn't want to be a lawyer, she'd felt pressured into doing it because it was what her family wanted her to do in being a lawyer, so that she would eventually join the family practise of lawyers.

When they arrived at TAC the whole place took her breath away and she was certainly amazed by it all and that was just from seeing the main area. After Liberty had introduced her to Marissa, she took them through to the mock court area and Sophia was even more amazed. Liberty had already tried to explain to her about what Bull did, but even with her own experience with psychology she still didn't really get it. They also found that their client was also there, then when Liberty introduced her to Bull the two of them shook hands. As he went onto ask her if she knew what they did there she explained that Liberty had tried to tell her about her, but when he explained it all to her she found that she now understood it all a lot more.

Their case itself revolved round them trying to prove that their client wasn't guilty of the murder that he'd been charged with. The only trouble was that he kept telling them all that he was innocent, but wouldn't actually give them an alibi as to where he really was at the time of the murder. Even before the client had bought Bull onto the case, each time she and Liberty had met him, she just couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something about him that really gave her the creeps. Strangely though by the end of that first day of prep she could see by some of Bull's body language and with some of the looks he was also giving her that he was feeling it to.

As they were getting closer to their case beginning in actual court from all the prep they'd done and also from what Bull's team had dug up about their client, Sophia had started to get a feeling that with the murder victim being their clients ex-wife, it may have been possible that with the end of the marriage he'd started to see someone else. But because from all of the evidence they'd got they knew that the couple had still remained close and also did still each other quite a lot, despite the couple having had no children during the marriage. So Sophia had started to wonder if it was possible that the new person in his life had got jealous of the relationship that he still had with his ex and she'd killed the ex not realizing that she was setting him up to take the fall for it. On the night before as they'd been doing the final prep before they started in court, Liberty had called it a night about an hour before leaving just herself, Bull and Cable working on things. It was also that night that she realized that she and Bull were going to become friends for a very long time to come. She was trying her best to help Cable on the trail of who his possible new girlfriend was. She was also enjoying helping them with it all as well, seeing as before her parents got in the way about being a lawyer she'd actually wanted to be a criminal psychologist or a cop. One of her best friends Lee-Ann was a criminal psychologist herself, so on the quiet she had helped her to get her criminal psychology degree on top of her working towards getting the bar to become a lawyer. During that time she had shadowed Lee-Ann on a few of her cases, and she had also picked up a few contacts of her own while doing it as well. So leaving she and Cable beavering away Bull had disappeared out to go and get them all something to eat. When he came back with it they all took a break and Cable disappeared off leaving the two of them alone together. Of course this then gave Bull the opening he needed, as yes the two of them had had the odd conversations here and there while they doing the prep, but they hadn't really had a chance to talk properly. Not only that she also had a feeling that he also may have done his own background check into her as well, and even though she had buried certain things about her life pretty well so that her family wouldn't find them out, but she had a feeling that his check would have gone deeper and he would have dug those out as well. While he'd been out getting the food she had also E mailed Lee-Ann asking her if there was a chance that their client may have crossed her path at all or any of her contacts path, or even just knew something that they may find useful. Bull had come back with the food just after she'd sent it so even though she decided to have a break as well she didn't disappear off and stayed there with her laptop, just in case Lee-Ann E mailed her back again. So it was then as she was eating that Bull all of a sudden said "You're not happy being a lawyer are you?"

She sighs and answers "No, I hate lawyers and hate being a lawyer. But when you come from a family like mine it's the only thing that you're allowed to be. As the idea is that I now work for this practise for a couple of years or so before I then have to join the family practise, which I really don't want to do. I just wish that there was a way out of this, but I really don't think there will be. I mean I don't really care if they cut me off and things like that, if I did get the courage to turn round and say that I didn't want to do it. Especially as I did manage to get them to agree that I could have my own bank account, but over the years I've taken bits and pieces out of there and have got a separate well hidden account that they don't know about and I've got more than enough if I was then cut off. Plus I do also get some support from my best friend Lee-Ann. I know that this is probably the wrong choice of words considering our current case, but if it hadn't been for my little brother Marco getting away with murder and doing whatever he wanted with himself, I may have ended up being able to do what I wanted with my life."

He replies "I hope that you end up being able to do what you want and if you want any help or just need to talk at anytime just give me a call."

She says "I will do and thank you Bull."

Just after she says it her computer then bleeps to say she's got a message, so she then puts her food down to open the E mail. As she starts to look through everything that Lee-Ann has sent her she all of a sudden says "Oh my."

Bull then puts his own food down and comes to lean over her to look as well, he then looks at her from over the top of his glasses and says "Don't tell me you're thinking what I'm thinking?"

She smiles back at him and says "I think Dr. Bull that I may be thinking it to."

He then says "So how much have you there?"

She replies "Loads by the look of things."

He says "Ok print some of that out for me to look at and then forward some onto Cable as well. I'll then get Danny on the trail of this Sam in the morning."

After carrying on working for a little while longer and just as Bull's about to tell Sophia and Cable to call it a night, Sophia all of a sudden says "I think I've got it. Jeremy won't tell us the truth about what his alibi is because he doesn't want Sam to know the truth that he's seeing someone else behind her back. Yes he did meet the ex earlier on in the evening, but then he met the mystery man at Carlista's restaurant a bit later on and the table was booked in his name only. Looking at these stills he was with the mystery man at the time of the murder. I know that area pretty well myself and unless there's a short cut that I don't know about, there's no way he can be in two places at once. We know that he's openly admitted to being with Sam before he met his ex, but the police have proved that they weren't together at the time of the murder. So I think that he may be protecting the mystery man because he suspects that it was Sam who murdered his ex and thinks that she may do the same to the man he was seeing, especially if he goes onto drop her later on."

Bull says "I think that you could be onto something, but we need the proof. Cable in the morning see if you can get onto Sam's trail for that night, check the restaurant CCTV that he and the ex met at as well as Carlista's, as well as checking the street camera's. Check and see if she could have followed them into the restaurant by sitting in the bar area or something or that she just watched them from out in the street. Then see if there's anyway that you can pick up on Sam following the ex back to her house again. If you find anything while we're in court either give us a call or we'll be in again later on, if we're not there until late that is."

Cable replies "Will do."

After that Bull says "Ok let's now pack this up for the night, come on all of you home and get some rest."

As the case then continued in the next few days or so, Sophia started to learn that no she didn't want to be a lawyer at all or in any way, and was certainly glad that Liberty had got the lead for the case. She especially also knew it as she was helping the team more and more with their detective work on the case, and she was finding that she would really like to do something like that more. She was also very right about her and Bull's friendship, because with each passing day the two of them seemed to be getting closer and closer. Not only that she was also starting to find that the two of them could be holding conversations with one another without uttering a single word and were doing it non-verbally. That had started while there had been a witness on the stand, because she all of a sudden though of something that Liberty wasn't asking them. So in the end she wrote the question down in her notebook and then pushed the book towards Bull without her letting their client see it, he looked at her to say it was a good question. He then went onto getting Liberty's attention and showed her the book and she then went onto ask the question.

The other thing that Sophia didn't know about was that after finding out about Lee-Ann being her best friend and realizing that she was also one of their contacts as well, Bull had gone to see her to talk about Sophia. Where even though he had already known about her criminal psychology degree, he never realized that she'd done it at the same time as doing the bar exam. He was also quite surprised to learn that the real reason behind her not wanting to be a lawyer and go into the family business, was because she came from a very traditional Italian family and it was rumoured that they could be involved in some pretty shady dealing, and she didn't want to be involved with that. She was the fourth child in the family of five children and because of her being the youngest girl, her brothers and sister could be quite protective of their baby sister. But because of there being her younger brother they had given her a lot of independence because of him being the one that they expected to tow the family line instead, which had been why she had wanted to go into criminal psychology or to have become a cop. Bur her younger brother Marco had gone and rebelled against it himself and had got himself into a very bad crowd, he'd then managed to get himself arrested, charged and found guilty of the crime he'd committed, blowing all chance of becoming a lawyer, so everything and been turned round and Sophia had been forced into things instead. Lee-Ann admitted to Bull that at the time the pressure had ended up getting too much for her in the end and she had ended up disappearing for a time. It was also then that Lee-Ann got the impression that it was her father that held all of the power over the whole family, especially the amount of times he came to see her when she was missing, because he was certain that Lee-Ann knew where she was when she didn't know a thing. But that had also been the reason why she had wanted to do psychology because while she was gone she had done just a taster course and she had really enjoyed it, especially as she then got some insight into the mind games that her father would play on them to keep them all in line with what his will was. By the end of their conversation Bull said that if it was what Sophia really wanted then he would do all he could to get her out of the situation and Lee-Ann promised that she would also help them as much as she could as well.

As the case was heading towards it's conclusion, they got the confirmation they needed to prove that Jeremy was bisexual and that he and Sam had been seeing each other, but the surprise for them to come was that his alibi wasn't what they thought and was a woman called Lucy, and when Danny went to see her, it turned out that she and Jeremy had been seeing each other as well for months. From all the other evidence that they were able to get together they were also able to prove that Sam had been the killer of Jeremy's ex, it was his jealousy that had made him follow them both to see what they were both up to, as he suspected that they were still sleeping together. But of course Jeremy was keeping it quiet that he was really seeing both Lucy and Sam at the same time.

Because of them not getting the evidence together in time though the trial had to still come to it's conclusion, so because of something that had also happened in that couple of days and the mirror jury having heard a conversation that Sophia and Liberty had had, on the night before the final day Bull decided that even though she did really hate being a lawyer so much it should be her that did the closing argument. Even though he did also have the confidence in her that she could do it, he also wanted to do it as his test for her to see just how much she did hate being a lawyer. So that night he got Benny to write it and then took Sophia back to the mock court so she could practise doing it on him alone.

When Bull had told Sophia about there being the one to deliver the closing argument, in a way she did really want to do it, but in many ways she really didn't feel like she'd got enough confidence to actually do it. So to start off with as they started to go through it, Bull just sat at the back of the jury box to watch her, giving her some pointers just every now and then when he felt she needed it. Then when they got back to it again after having a food and drink break, he took it down to its bare bones and took each part just gradually. As they did it like this she also found that as Bull came behind her and would give her shoulders and back a massage because of the way she kept tensing up did really help her, before he would then pull her shoulders back, before putting his hand into the centre of the small of her back. He'd then tell her to close her eyes and take deep breaths in and out, once he could sense that she was calm enough he would then once again get her to go through the speech again, while he left his hand in the small of her back. Then he started to let go of her at points and go back to sit in the jury section again. Even though she was doing it really successfully in the end and with some feeling, it was at that moment where he would change the place he sat in each time that Bull realized that she'd got a problem with making and keeping eye contact. So after another time of doing the speech, he took her hands in his and got her to sit next to him, he then said to her that she didn't have to tell him anything if it was too hard for her or to personal, but he just wondered why she had the problem with making eye, but he didn't want push her into anything. At first she just stayed quiet, but he discreetly watched her eyes as he could tell that she was trying to work out how to put it in her own words. She then eventually said quietly as she bit her lip nervously "It's because of the way that dad would always punish us when we were kids and also that bit older too. It was like being at school and being taken to the heads office when you were in trouble. He'd order us to his study, but we would have to stand outside and wait for the order to go in. Although it never happened to me, but a few times the boys did end up being dragged in there as he pulled them along by their ears. Before he decided on what punishment he was going to inflict on you, we would have to stand in front of his desk and explain to him what we'd done wrong. We had to look him in the eye as we explained it to him, if we lost the eye contact; he would then grab our chins in his thumb and finger and forced to keep the eye contact up."

As he saw the tears spring up in her eyes and they start to roll down her face, he took her into a hug. Even though he doesn't really want his head to go there, and even though she never explained what the punishments were, because of the look of fear that was in her eyes before he took her into the hug, he guesses what forms they could have been, but he knows that he won't force it with her and she tell him if she wants to in her own time. As she begins to settle he kisses the top of her head and says just quietly back "I won't push it, but have you ever talked with anyone about it?" With her head still in his chest she shakes her head saying "no." So he then adds "I'm always here for you and when you're ready I will listen, call me whenever you need me day or night."

She then lifts her head just as quietly as before she replies "I will do, I promise."

As he starts to run his fingers softly through her hair he then says "You need to get some rest, we've got time before we have to be in court so we'll come here and do it one more time, before you have to do it in court. All I will say about looking the jurors in the eye just try to make it look like you're looking them in the eye, look at the wall or something on the wall behind them. Or just choose one them that you may be able to keep contact up with. If at any point you feel yourself getting stuck, then take a deep breath and look at me before you start again."

After that he tells her that he'll take her home and then will pick her up again in the morning, but they then as they walk back out into the main area they find Cable waiting for them and she hands Bull something she's printed off but that he has to see. So in the end they both head into Chunk's room and sit on the sofa in there while he reads it. By the time he's finished reading it the exhaustion has got the better of her and he finds that she's fallen asleep against him. So he just ends up taking a chance with things and carries her to the bed he uses when he ends up staying at the office rather than going home, he lays her gently down and somehow also managed to remove her shoes and jacket, before he does the same thing with himself as he lays down next to her.

The next morning when Sophia wakes up to find herself in Bull's arms, she finds herself surprisingly comfortable and safe being there. Not only that she just knows that for the first time in her life, she has got a man in her life that she can truly trust. As she also lays there with her head on his chest hearing him both breathing and his heartbeat in her ear, along with drinking in his scent, she starts to wonder if it's possible that she may have found a man that she could fall in love with for the first time in her life. As her eyes flicker shut once again she places her hand gently over his heart and finds herself saying a little prayer asking that if he was meant to be a big part of her life to send her a sign that it was meant to be. This time as she fell asleep again it wasn't to be for very long, because as she awoke again a little while later, it was to Bull kissing the top of her head and gently stroking her face with his fingers. Once they're both awake properly he takes her home so that she can do a quick freshen up, then on the way back to TAC again he buys her some breakfast and coffee, before they go and do the final run through of her speech. This time somehow with the new developments in their relationship over night, she was at least able to keep her eye contact up with him. So in that moment she decided that she was going to imagine that it was him sitting in the jury box instead of one of the actual jury members instead. By the time she'd done it this time she was also very surprised when he gave her a standing ovation and also told her that if she did it just like that, then she would have the jury eating out of her hands.

When the time came for her to finally deliver her speech, what she also found really helped was because of Bull having been sitting only just behind their table, he took her hand and gave it a squeeze, along with giving her a silent look of "You can do this" at her as she got up from the table. As she first started off she knew that she probably started off sounding shaky and nervous, but then she took a deep breath and turned to look at Bull, who gave her a slight nod. After that she then started to imagine things as they had been the night before, as he'd massaged her shoulders and neck, then with her standing straight and him having his hand in the small of her back. Then as she turned back to the jury she did the thing she said she would in her head and started to imagine Bull sitting in front her instead of a jury member, and with that she soon found that the confidence was growing inside of her. Although by the time it was all over she was feeling really wiped out and as she went to take her seat again she flopped down into it. But she also welcomed the hand of Bull on her shoulder giving it squeeze while the judge was doing his speech to the jury before clearing the court and it then coming down to them having to wait for the verdict to come in.

It took the jury just a couple of hours to come back with their verdict, and as everyone took their places within the court, Sophia had to admit that she was feeling quite nervous about it. But it ended up being relief all round when the jury came back with a "Not guilty" verdict. Within a few minutes of the judge dismissing the court, it went to the court being a scene of chaos and leaving Sophia fighting for her life. Because just as Bull and Jeremy were shaking hands with one another, Sophia looked up just in time to see a woman pointing a gun at the two of them, just as the woman fired the gun she yelled "Bull!" and pushed him out of the way. The next thing she felt was the pain in her shoulder as the bullet hit her, her then hitting the floor and the blackness coming over her. As she was between consciousness and unconsciousness, she felt even more pain as pressure was being applied to her wound and Bull sounding very far away from her as he kept saying over and over to her " Come on Soph, stay with me, I need you to open your eyes, I can't loose you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Her One True Love**

 **Chapter 2.**

After the shooting the court was in complete chaos with security and the cops trying to drag away the woman that had done it, as well as the paramedics trying to get into the court and to work on Sophia, and to Bull everything had felt like a real blur and he really wasn't sure about what was really going on all around him, even when the paramedics had asked him if he was going to be accompanying Sophia with them to the hospital had become a real blur. Now he was sitting here in the waiting room waiting for news of her condition and as he was coming out of things more he realised that he'd still got her blood all over his hands and it was also on his clothes as well. While he sat there waiting for news he also found himself saying a small prayer asking for her to be ok, because he wanted this woman to be in his life and he also guessed that in the short time of knowing her, he had begun to fall in love with her, but he also guessed that they would still have a very long way to go with her recovery as well as knowing they had to get over the hurdle of what her families reaction would be to her not wanting to be a lawyer, and he was also guessing that they would also have something against them being together if that was to be as well. But he also knew that they were also going to have to get through all of that as well as getting her through all the world of hurt that her father had put on her all through the years and he was most certainly going to be by her side throughout and would her help her to heal.

A little while later Bull was roused from his thoughts when he felt a light touch on his shoulder, when he turned it was to find that it was Marissa there and alongside her was Chunk with a bag of new clothes for him, as he came out of his thoughts Marissa asked "How is she, have you heard anything yet?"

He replied "I haven't heard anything since they took her out there, what happened to the woman that shot her?"

Chunk replied "They got to her right away and she was taken away by the cops, at the moment they've charged her with attempted murder on both you and Jeremy, then they're waiting on the report from here to decide on what they're going to charge her with over Sophia."

Marissa then hands him a piece of paper and says "Cable looked things up and found the contact details for her parents, but because of them knowing that she was working with both you and Liberty on this, we thought that it might be best that the news came from you on this one."

He then takes the piece of paper from her before he takes the bag from Chunk and leaving them in the waiting room, he goes off to the nearest rest room to get a freshen up, following washing Sophia's blood from his hands, he then goes into the stall to strip his clothes off and to get into the clean ones. When he comes out of the stall again, he puts his old clothes on the side of the basin before putting them into the bag as he takes out the piece of paper with the details of her parents and just stands there staring at it. In the end he ends up just folding it up and putting it into his pocket thinking that he'll deal with it later, because at the moment he feels that the most important person that he should tell about what happened should be Lee-Ann.

After getting back to the waiting area again he sends Marissa and Chunk back to TAC once again saying that he will be fine waiting there on his own and that he will call them as soon as there is any news, then not long after that a doctor comes out to tell him that due to the damage that the bullet has caused they have taken Sophia into surgery to get the damage repaired and that they have also got added blood going through her because of how much blood she lost. The operation itself shouldn't take them more than a couple of hours to complete, but someone will come out and talk to him again once they're done to let him know how things have gone. So as soon as the doctor leaves him he's straight on the phone to Marissa letting her know what the news is.

While he's alone once again following the doctors report he sits there once again contemplating over what to do over her parents, but in the end rather than calling them he goes to the first person that he thought about in this whole situation and calls Lee-Ann, he was also very glad that he did choose to do her first because the moment she answered the phone the first thing out of her mouth was "Don't tell me I just got the news about what happened in court, it was Sophia that was the one that got hurt wasn't it?"

To which he replied "Yes it was; I'm at the hospital waiting on more news about her. At the moment she's in surgery repairing the damage that the bullet has done to her shoulder. I've been given her parents number from the office, but I thought that I'd better get in touch with you first."

She then thanks him and asks him if he can hold off from getting touch with them, because if he did she knows that the first thing they will do, whether the doctors say it's safe or not to move her, they would still attempt to get her transferred into a private hospital and she also knew that it would be a hospital where they would never be able to find her again. But they wouldn't actually manage to do that, because even though Sophia had never wanted to be a lawyer, she had still used her qualifications to her own advantage, because not only had she started on everything she needed to be able to get out of her parents control, she had already done that for their control on medical matters if she wasn't able to give medical staff the go ahead over what her treatment should be, because she had already got the paperwork done so that Lee-Ann was actually her medical power of attorney. So with that Bull told her to get herself and the paperwork to the hospital and he would hold off from making a call to them about things, then that way they can get together with Benny to get their heads together and plan what their next move ought to be. So once they finish their call he is then straight onto calling Benny and of course first of all explains that everything is ok with Sophia and that they haven't had any more news yet, but that they need to get their heads together and decide what to do about her parents, because of Sophia wanting to make a break from them, as well as Lee-Ann already holding her medical power of attorney and also about how Lee-Ann did already know what her parents were like and that they would make an attempt to get her to disappear by putting her into a private care hospital, even it was against any medical advise to the contrary. So they need to get together to check on all the paperwork that Lee-Ann has got and get what they need to in place, just in case her parents so end up attempting to make a move on her.

When Benny got to the hospital not long after Lee-Ann had done, he also had Marissa in tow and she said that she would stay there and would call if there was any news, so that all of them could go and talk in some privacy, so with that they all head off to the canteen and find a quiet corner where they can talk and also look at the paperwork in a bit of privacy.

First of all Lee-Ann hands over the medical power of attorney paperwork and Benny begins to go through that, while he's doing that she takes some more paperwork out of her bag and as she hands it to Bull she says "Sophia also gave me these to look after, she only wanted to use them in the future if she really had to make the break from her parents. But with knowing the family history over Marco I don't trust them not finding out about my involvement, and then sending him either to my apartment or office to break in and get hold of it before then making it disappear, so that they can then say that they never actually existed and that we don't have any proof of it, I know that if I give these to you, then they will be in safe hands."

Just as she hands them over to Bull and he hands them to Benny, he finishes reading the paperwork he had and he says "You know for someone who didn't want to be a lawyer she has certainly made sure that everything is water tight and everything is official and ready to go. I'll also go through everything else once we get back to TAC again. The only thing that we may have to be careful of and be on stand-by for is that her parents may try to take it to court and say that she's suffering from a mental disorder of some sort."

Bull replies "Ok take Marissa back to TAC with you again and get what you can done just in case we do have to build a case against them from attempting anything, if they do decide to take things to court, get the others to also help you with anything that you might need. As well as that get the others to also start looking into her family and dig up what you can about them. Get those papers as close as you can to be court ready, because even though I'm guessing that she had those papers ready to use in the future when she was going to finally make the break from them, but I have a strange feeling that we may have to get all this started off on her behalf before she's back with us again."

Benny says that he'll get onto it and as he then goes to leave and get Marissa, Bull promises that he will give them a call as soon as they get any news of Sophia.

Once Benny leaves the two of them Bull and Lee-Ann head back to the waiting area once again, so that they can be ready if there is any news about Sophia. Following on from what Benny had said about Sophia having made sure that everything in the paperwork was water tight, despite not wanting to be a lawyer Lee-Ann sighs and says "You know Sophia never really opened up much to tell me about her family and things, all I know of them is what I've heard on the grapevine and things like that, but I'm honestly not surprised that she used those skills as a lawyer so that she could then make the complete get away from her family."

He replies "I agree; she certainly was looking for a way out. We had a really good talk last night, as we were doing the prep for her doing the closing speech, but even if she says that she doesn't want to be a lawyer any longer I wouldn't be surprised if she does still do it in some way, like to help disadvantaged or something like that instead, because I can see that in her as she does really have a good heart. Look I don't want to pry into things with what little she has told you about her parents, but when we talked as it came up when she couldn't make eye contact with me or if she managed to she couldn't hold it. She did then explain it to me what would happen while they were awaiting punishment from her father, and how he would make them explain what they had done wrong, while having to keep eye contact up with him and what he would do if they didn't keep it up, before he would then hand out the punishment to them. She then never went onto tell me what kind of punishment he would then hand out, and I do just really hate to think that they could have been at there worst, but from what I was picking up from her as she explained, I just can't help but think that it was probably really bad. Not only that I do also have a feeling that with what happened in court today, there could be a chance that it may bring it all back up to the surface for her once again, especially if this does end up with us having to start on the break away from her parents and family on her behalf, and I have a feeling that we could also be in for a long journey ahead of us in helping her heal from her past."

She replies "For me as well she never really told me anything much either, but I did always know that she was absolutely hating training to take the bar. Then one day she was shadowing me in a case that had involved some child abuse. I can't explain to you why I did it for, but after we'd finally closed the case earlier on in the day, while she was getting her stuff packed up and things I just asked her if she wanted to come home with me for something to eat and a place to stay, just so that she wouldn't end up being on her own for that night. Anyway she ended up hardly eating anything of the meal that I sorted out for us and she ended up just pushing the food round her plate as well. Not only that she seemed to turn into herself and became really quiet. After we finished eating I told her that I would take care of doing the clearing up and that she could go and sit on the sofa if that was what she wanted to do. Once I'd done that clearing up and came back into the lounge again she was sitting there just staring off into space and she hadn't got a clue as to what was going on all around her. She was so out of it that she also had tears rolling down her face and she couldn't even feel those, because of the way that she wasn't even rubbing them away. Eventually she did manage to come out of it and then she admitted to me that some of the aspects of her case had just got too close to home for her. She never then revealed anything to me about what had happened to her, but she did explain to me about what had happened one day when she refused to have a shower after doing PT at school, but the teachers made her take one anyway and then because they had watched her, they went onto report the bruising that they had seen on her to child services. For a short time child services did investigate it, and while it went on she and her brothers and sisters were sent to live with her mom's parents. A few months later they were sent back to their parents again and they never heard what the outcome of the case ended up being. As she got older and began to learn what her father was really like, she realised that he most probably ended up making that case disappear, along with of course everything else that was connected to it. But after telling me about it she then never gave me any clue as to where on her that bruising had been or what had caused it. Like you I do really hate to think about it being the worst that it could be, but if I'm honest I do think it. Although with what I've learnt about her father, I think it was all most probably physical and mental and I don't think that anything sexual happened. From what I've learnt about her father though through the research that I have done, but he most certainly rules that family with a rod of iron, but he also does it with the lawyer firm as well, because even though it is mostly a family run firm, he does actually employ out of family people as secretarial and admin staff and I know that he has had a very high turn over in that staff. Not only that all the staff that has left have then been very handsomely paid off and have also been made to sign non disclosure orders. The only thing that does really worry me about this, is if she does manage to make that final break away from her family, how much that man will fight to get her back into the family again, especially with already having lost Marco from the family fold so to speak. Although even if they can't now have him as a lawyer because of his conviction, ever since he's come out of prison they still have kept him very to close to them and no-one actually knows now what he does for them."

As Bull then sighs he says "You know that through all of this I have a feeling that we may be in for a very long fight with him and the rest of her family, but in the meantime I am going to get the rest of the team to start investigating, just in case she does wake up in time to take things a lot further with the break away or even if she wants to take things further than that, even if it might mean that we will dig some things out that we may not like."

She then replies "And I will also help you where I can as well Bull."

He says "Thank you, but please make sure that you keep yourself safe, because I really don't trust them in any way at all and I do not want to see anything at all happening to you." she then promises him that she will be careful with what she does, before the two of them then fall into a comfortable silence, but with them both in a way praying that Sophia will be ok.

After what had felt like hours to both Bull and Lee-Ann the doctor came to tell them the news that Sophia's op had been a success, although when they got in there they did find that the damage to her shoulder was more extensive to what the X-rays and scans had originally told them, even so it had been successfully repaired. The only concern that they have is what damage the bullet actually caused to the nerves and blood vessels, but they won't be able to tell about that until she's awake again and they get her moving it once again, which won't be for a few days yet because at the moment it would be better for her if they kept her under sedation, because even though that arm will be in a sling for a long time to come, for now it is imperative that they keep that arm totally immobile and the only way to do that is to keep her sedated so she can't move around as she sleeps. Not only that if she was awake then she would most probably find that the pain from the wound would be pretty unbearable, so keeping her under is for the best and at the moment she does also have blood going through her still replacing what she had lost. When he left they had just got her in recovery as a room was being made ready for her, so once the transfer had been done, then someone would be there to come and get them so that they can see her.

A little while later a nurse did come and get them and took them to Sophia's room, as Bull walked into the room he was quite shocked at how pale she was looking, but he also knew that some of it was probably down to all the blood that she had lost. He did also wince a little bit at seeing the arm in the sling, but was so glad that she had come out of the operation ok and that she was still out of it because he just couldn't imagine the amount of pain that she would be in otherwise. Although it was also bringing it home to him that if she hadn't shoved him out of the way when she had, then he could quite easily have ended up being the one that had ended up in that hospital bed instead. As he then took a seat at her bedside, he took the hand that was lying on top of the sheets and blankets, while being careful not to go and knock out any of the tubes that were going into her arm and hand, while Lee-Ann went to sit on the other side of her.

The two of them had been sitting there for quite a while in a comfortable silence, as Bull had also ended up just slightly hypnotising himself with the way that he had been holding Sophia's hand and rubbing his thumb gently along her knuckles. He was eventually bought out of his reverie as Lee-Ann all of a sudden said "Bull are you in love with her?"

As he looked up at her he replied "You know I do believe that I am falling in love with her, she's a very special woman and I want to make her happy."

She says "I hope that you can Bull, because even though we don't know fully what she's already been through in her life, I don't want to see her hurt, so please promise me that you will never ever hurt her and that whatever happens with these parents of hers and however it is that you have to get them out of her life, you will be there to help her through it all?"

He turns and says to her "I promise you Lee-Ann that I will never ever hurt her and that I will always stand by her no matter what happens, I'm falling for her in a very big way and I will always protect her from them, no matter what they end up throwing at us or her."

She then replies with a smile "I'm glad that you will be Bull, because she does need to finally find some stability in her life and also have people behind her that are going to protect and support her, and I promise you that I will always be here for the both of you." After that the two of them then fall back into their silence once again.

It had only been a short while before that Bull had sent Lee-Ann home to get some rest, mainly because she had been virtually falling asleep in the chair that she was sitting in and Bull knew that she would be more comfortable at least sleeping in her own bed, he had also assured her that he would be straight in touch with her if anything at all happened with Sophia. Not long after she'd left Benny had called him to say that he'd been through Sophia's paperwork and everything in it was so watertight that all he needed to do was go and get it filed in court, especially as she had already got Lee-Ann to sign the power of attorney paperwork already, the only thing they did need for it was a back-up person either another lawyer or Bull could even do it for that though they would still need his signature as well as Lee-Ann's as he guessed that Sophia would also like it to be him as well. So with that Bull said that if he called Lee-Ann and went to see her first, but to make sure that he assured her that he was just calling because of needing her signature on the paperwork, then come to him at the hospital for his signature, that way he could then get it into court on his way back to TAC again. Before he sat back down at her side once again, he kissed her on the forehead and took her hand as he said quietly to her "I'm really hoping that you don't mind us doing this Sophia, but we're starting on the break away from your parents for you, because after us all talking we decided that it was imperative that we got it done, just in case they end up coming here to try and get you out of here and into another hospital somewhere where we may never find you again. I don't want that to happen Sophia, because I don't want to loose you and I want to be by your side here no matter what, I'm falling in love with you Sophia and want to be with you and I am really hoping that you feel the same way about me too." Even though he knew that he wouldn't get any response from her, he still stayed there for a couple of minutes holding her hand just in case something did happen, but when it didn't he finally sat back down in his chair, after pulling it forward slightly, so it was closer to the bed and then he sat down once again as he took her hand.

Sophia was feeling really strange because she was feeling like she wasn't really asleep, but that she wasn't really awake either, but somehow she knew that Bull was there with her holding her hand. After that she then started to feel like she could possibly be dreaming, because it sort of felt like she and Bull were walking through a grassy field together hand in hand on a really bright, hot sunny day. As they then finally came across a blanket they then sat down on it together, as they then sat as close as they could together still holding hands, as they did that she all of a sudden felt that he was trying to tell her that he was falling in love with her to which she said to him that she was also feeling the same way about him too, as the both of them then went in for their first kiss. As they were kissing she then started to get film cuts of their future life together that they were going to be sharing. Then after that it changed again into her waking up in her hospital room and not long after that turning into Bull explaining about how they'd ended up having to start off the break away she was making from her parents, because of them having taken them to court about her mental capacity to make the decision to do it. Her parents had also made an attempt at getting her moved into another hospital away from them all, despite the medical staff at that hospital having advised them that it wasn't a good idea medically and so they had then gone back to court again over that. Previous to that they had already got restraining orders and no contact orders on them so that they couldn't come anywhere near her in anyway, but they had now got other orders that prevented them from being able to take her away from the hospital in anyway, and they would continue to work on her full break from them if that was what she wanted.

Then after that all of a sudden it started to become a nightmare because she was still there in her hospital bed, but Bull had now disappeared from by her side so she had started to call out for him, but each time she did it a nurse would then come into her room and inject her with another sedative to make her go to sleep once again. Then after that it changed again to her still recovering but now she was back at home, but they were keeping her there like she was a prisoner because of the way she had made the attempt at getting away from them. Before it then changed into the punishments that her father was dishing out to her in his study for also doing it, it was the same punishments that she would get when she was a child and that bit older, but of course because she was an adult it was all that bit worse and also that bit worse too because of the way she had attempted to make that escape from them, but also because of the way that she had also fallen in love with Bull too. As well as making sure that she had no way of getting out of the house without anyone knowing about it, she had also got a bodyguard on her in the shape of Phil, who also slept in the room she would have to go through if she did make an attempt to get out of there at night, and who would follow her around everywhere wherever she went. So she really couldn't find anyway of getting out of the place or see a way that Bull could get there and get her out. But then all of a sudden she didn't know if she was sensing and starting to react to what was going in the outside world or what it was, because she all of a sudden sensed she could hear Bull's voice saying that she shouldn't worry because he would always protect her, before she felt like he was placing a kiss one her forehead. Not only that she all of a sudden started to get a feeling that her nightmare was going to come true, as she had a sense that her parents were there in the hospital and that they were going to take her away, so she then had a strong feeling that she was trying to warn Bull about it, but she hadn't got a clue if the message was getting through to him or not.

As Lee-Ann had come back top the hospital again after her rest and both she and Bull were once again sitting at Sophia's bedside, with Bull still holding Sophia's hand. While they were sitting there he was also studying Sophia's face and all of a sudden started to notice her eyes moving just slightly under her eyelids, along with that he also noticed that her lips were starting to move as well, so with that and while still holding her hand he got up and started to lightly stroke her forehead with his free hand, as he was doing so he also bent down and started to whisper in her ear that she would be ok and that he would always be there to protect her, although he did also get taken slightly by surprise when she all of a sudden said quietly "I'm falling in love with you Bull."

With that he bent down again and whispered back in her ear "I'm falling in love with you too."

After she then quiet for a few moments he was then once again taken by surprise when she then all of a sudden gripped the hand that he was holding with what felt like all the strength that she could quite possibly muster and because of it being so hard and the way it had also got a slight shake to it as well, he was getting the feeling that she was getting frightened of something, especially as she started to quietly murmur something again. In the end it did finally get loud enough for him to be able to hear it as she finally said with some fear in her voice "It's my parents Bull, they're here!"

Just at that moment he could then here a commotion going on outside in the reception area and then put the two things together, so he then bent down and kissed her on the forehead, before he once again whispered in her ear "Don't worry I will always keep you protected." Just before he finally let go of her hand he told Lee-Ann to look after her while he went out to sort things out, adding that she should also stay out of the sight of Sophia's parents so that they didn't see her there, and then with that he finally let go of Sophia's hand and went out there with determination that he was going to stand his ground and keep his word to protect her.

By the time Bull did get out to the waiting area it was to find that there was a man out there causing a real fuss at the wards reception desk, but what got his attention the most was the woman with him as he instantly knew that she was Sophia's mom because of the way that the two of them did look so alike, but he also realised that it was also where Sophia had got her short stature from, because of the way that her mom was also so very short herself, although he could also tell that Sophia was the taller one, but only just. He was then bought out of his reverie over that as the man there then said rather firmly "I am her father, don't you know who I am? I am one of the top lawyers in this city, and if I don't get to see how she is or get a report about her condition, I will be taking you and this hospital to court and will be taking everything that you've got."

As the nurse there then explained to him that she wasn't in any way able to do that or tell him anything because he wasn't the one that was holding the medical power of attorney over her because of their rights over her treatment had been signed away to someone else, Bull then chose that moment to step in by saying "I'm one of those people that hold the power of attorney, I'm Dr Jason Bull and the paperwork is all above board and is all legal, which means that Sophia is under my protection and I'm afraid that you don't now hold any power over her or have access to her."

Just after he'd finished saying it he then noticed some movement out the corner of his eye, as he turned to see what it was, he was very happy to see that it was Benny and also with him were a couple of members of the hospitals security guards. When Benny got close enough he then handed her father the papers that were in his hand as he then said "I am now serving you with these restraining and protective orders, as well as a no contact order. I'm afraid that we will be asking you to leave this hospital now because you are not allowed anywhere near Sophia and that goes for the rest of the family as well because at this precise moment they are also being presented with these papers by officers from the court."

Because of the way that Benny had put the papers in his hand but hadn't let go of them her father then completely snatched them out of Benny's hand to take them before he then stepped right into Bull's personal space as he said with some venom and anger "Well I'm afraid Dr Bull that this won't be the last you'll be hearing from us over this situation, I will be challenging all of this in court and I will be getting my daughter back at home with me and my family where she belongs."

Just after he finished saying it her doctors then also put in an appearance and between them both they then explained that they had just come from her room and she was at the moment showing quite a lot of distress, so they were going to have to ask that they both leave because the distress wasn't doing her any good, especially as she had only just come through a very major operation, they then added to Bull that they really needed him to get back again in the room with her because she was asking for him like mad and needed him with her. As her father then finally conceded to things and then turned to her mom and gave her the order to move just with a movement of his eyes, as he then turned to walk off.

Her mom then took Bull by surprise as well, because she then stood on her tip toes as she said quickly and quietly in his ear "Please look after her and keep her safe from him." Then as she went back onto her flat feet again, she took his hand into hers and just as she took it away he felt a piece of paper drop into his from her hand.

Once they both had walked away from the ward with the security escorting them out, he opened his hand to find the crumpled up piece of paper there. He then opened it to find that her mom had written a plea of help on one side to help her also get away from her husbands clutches, then on the other side of it there were a couple of phone numbers there, along with a note saying that if he could get those numbers to the right people, they would be able to get the evidence to her husbands not quite so legitimate dealings and clients. As he then pocketed the piece of paper, he sighed and then walked back to Sophia's room once again, as he got there one of the Dr's were still there and told him that she had sensed that they were one again and had significally calmed down once again, but she did still need to be a lot calmer than she was otherwise they would have to sedate her even more, which would then make things difficult for them because of being able to monitor her pain levels, which at the moment they were managing to keep at the right level and they wanted it to continue in that way. So with that he left them all alone once again and as soon as they were alone the first thing that he did was go to her side, took her hand and started to rub his thumb over the back of it gently, then with his other hand he rubbed it over her head gently as he then said quietly "It's ok you're safe and they're gone, Benny has also presented them and the rest of your family with restraining, protective and no contact orders, so they can't come anywhere near you or contact you in any way. Please now concentrate on getting yourself better for us, so that the Dr's can then wake you up, because I do really want to see you awake. Not only that I need some guidance from you because it looks like your mom wants out too, I need your help to tell me if we should help her or not. I would like to help her as well, but I will only do it if you think that it's a good idea."

After that about an hour later the Dr's come back again and tell them that the good news is that she has calmed down as they wanted her too and things are back to how they were with her before her parents arrival. So with that Lee-Ann excused herself so that she could go and use the rest room, and then when she came back again she had also gone off and got both she and Bull some food and coffee, because she knew that from now on that other than visits to the rest room Bull would not be moving from Sophia's side, unless he did really have to go away for a reason. She also realised that Sophia had certainly got a very stubborn man on her side, and her man that was going to love and protect her for the rest of her life.


End file.
